Apple’s iPad is Winning China

Sales of the iPad have soared in China since Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) settled its trademark dispute with local company Proview International. IDC analyst Dickie Chang said shipments of the Apple tablet went up to 2.07 million in the third quarter, representing an almost 80 percent increase over the previous quarter’s 1.15 million units.

Chang attributed the increase to the settlement of the dispute, which arose because Proview had registered the iPad trademark prior to Apple launching its tablet and turned into a stretched-out legal case. Apple ultimately agreed to settle for $60 million in July. However, the argument meant that the launch of the third-generation of Apple’s tablet was delayed in the country for months. The new iPad finally hit store shelves on July 20.

The analyst said the iPad leads the Chinese tablet market by a wide margin, with Lenovo next at 278,000 units shipped in the third quarter, and Samsung third with 143,000 units. In terms of global market share, the iPad has seen a drop from 60 percent last year to about 50 percent in the third quarter this year as shipments for Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android tablets like the Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Kindle Fire HD grow.

The newly released fourth-generation of the iPad as well as the new iPad mini are still not available in China, which is now Apple’s largest growing market, suggesting that sales could see another spike soon. About 15 percent of Apple’s overall revenues now come from the Asian country, and the iPhone maker reported $5.7 billion in sales in the country in the September-ending quarter, a 26 percent increase from the same period a year ago.

There is also a growing buzz that the iPhone 5 will be launched in China in December, with partner carriers China Telecom (NYSE:CHA) and China Unicom (NYSE:CHU) suggesting the release of the new smartphone was on track.